Product Description

User Reviews

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Submitted by
Albe Token
a Audio Enthusiast

Date Reviewed: May 4, 2012

Bottom Line:

When it comes to sitting back and listening to your CD collection, the SPICA speakers will give you all you want. The sound stage is all there. Close your eyes and you are in the room. That is all there is to it. Spica with the precise and well configured cross over is so far superior that it compensates for the oft mentioned low bass response. Having said that, they may not be for everyone, but, hey, that's all right too. Once you get on the Spica train it is real hard to get off. I have been enjoying Spica's since my first pair in 1991 purchased at Stereo Exchange and have gone to Ebay to continue the love affair. Tonight enjoying tremendously a -for me - new set of TC50's. Ryan Adams never knew he could sound so good!

The Spica TC-50 is perhaps the best imaging speaker ever made regardless of cost. Despite being produced in the late 80's it still creates an amazing soundstage and imagery that can't be beat. They are warm sounding speakers designed for music at moderate levels. They do not handle deep bass very well and therefore do not work well in home theatre. They also have limited volume and while producing a jazz club or orchestra amazingly, they are unable to reproduce concert level volumes.

Because of their incredible (almost magical) transparency, they are very hard to pair with a subwoofer with maybe the exception of the Kinergetics which were designed around the TC-50s subtly extending the TC-50s into lower octaves. The Kinergeics are also subtlely transparent to a point you have to check they are even on some times.

First off, I'm going to have to disagree with a prior reviewer. Either he's listening to TC-50's (which I have owned) or his pair of -60's aren't up to par. I figure my TC's are putting out their full-spec frequency range of from 48hz to 20Khz with more than enough (medium sized) room-filling sound.

Also, once up on properly positioned stands, TC-60's do good at their famous "disappearing act"; though not as good as the TC-50's do (which present the most 'boxless' sound of any enclosed speaker IMHO). That they don't totally disappear is a function of their going lower than -50's wherein they become more directional due to their greater Bass output. Well - that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it :)

I have owned these for 6 months and feel they would be a good investment for anyone building a starter system or vintage system. However, they are by no means the last word in detail so I have decided to upgrade. A groundbreaking product back in the day but easily surpassed by modern technology. On par with the likes of dq10s but not as price inflated. Imaging, soundstage depth, and incredible transparency are still in tact. However, with digital technology and ever increasing high frequency output these come up a little short. Dont buy these unless they come with the custom stands. If you listen to vinyl these would make a good match...although as stated they are a bit rolled off...which produces a "dark" tonal character. They are a 4ohm load.

I picked up my TC-60s at a closeout sale at Audio Advisor, and have been dealing with that decision ever sine; in my 10+ years as an audiophile, I have never owned a more infuriating, recalcitrant, thoroughly unsettling piece of equipment.

When I first set them up, I was not only unimpressed with their sound, I was afraid they were broken. After several weeks, I was still confused; in some ways they sounded good, but, overall, they still sounded decidedly mediocre.

I had them sitting on an extremely heavy pair of sand-filled Target stands, but I couldn't get them to sound very good no matter what I put between the speakers and the tops of the stands, or how much I tilted and/or toed them in.

I spent the next several weeks trying every possible combination of stand/positioning/ancillary equipment I could come up with. Finally, very late one night, after having spent the previous 3 or 4 hours cursing and fuming, I GOT EVERYTHING RIGHT.

The arrangement I ended up with could barely have looked more ridiculous -- the speakers were waaaaaaaaaaaay out into the room, toed in so that I could just barely see the inside edges of the cabinets, and sitting on two pairs of other speakers! (One pair of Boston Acoustics towers, lying on their sides, and one pair of original PSB Alphas). The speakers were angled upwards a bit as well, perhaps 15 degrees or so.

Once I had the speakers set up this way, I couldn't BELIEVE what I was hearing. The soundstage was UNREAL, completely filling the 12-14 feet of space behind the speakers AND the nearly 30 feet to the cathedral ceiling! Not only that, but voices were rendered with astonishing realism, instrumental timbres were absolutely beautiful, and the speakers went louder without strain than I would have imagined possible.

But, and here's the kicker, I could never, no matter what I tried, get the bass to integrate very well with the rest of the frequency spectrum. It also sounded somewhat 'slow', making the entire presentation sound a bit syrupy and removed from reality.

So the TC-60 is a truly great speaker with an achilles heel (actually two, if you count the rolled-off highs). I've since moved on to a full-blown home theater rig, but I still keep my Spicas around. I set them up once in a while, invite a few friends over, and watch their jaws drop. I still love the TC-60s, flaws and all.